500+ Retail Jobs in San Diego, CA

Observed local government pay is much lower than many posted-salary ranges suggest. BLS puts San Diego retail salespersons at a $37,810 median, with $36,270 at the 25th percentile and $45,020 at the 75th percentile in 2025; first-line retail supervisors are materially higher at a $56,300 median. By contrast, the Callings.ai job database shows posted annual ranges centered on about $68k to $90k and hourly postings centered on about $18 to $20 / hour, which likely reflects a mix of management, specialty, and hourly roles rather than one typical wage.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 464 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $37,440 at the 25th percentile, $39,998 at the median and $44,585 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 16, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 250+ openings.

Open all in AI Job Search

What our analysts see this month

Balanced market | next 3-6 months

This is a workable retail market, but not an easy one. Retail salespersons remain a large local occupation with 34,390 workers, and county ad data showed retail salespersons were the most-advertised occupation in both March and May 2026, with 1,595 and 1,696 open ads respectively. At the same time, metro unemployment was 5.0% in August 2026 and local trade, transportation, and utilities employment was up only 0.5078% year over year, which points to steady store-level demand rather than a broad retail boom.

Best positioned: Candidates who can work on-site, show inventory management plus customer service skills, and are open to grocery, apparel, footwear, or supervisor-track store roles have the best odds right now.

Main caution: Do not mistake high posted salary ranges for typical associate pay; BLS puts the local retail salesperson median at $37,810, while hourly retail postings center on about $18 to $20 / hour.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 539 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Macy's, Inc.: 29 open roles
2. DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc.: 15 open roles
3. Bath & Body Works: 14 open roles
4. JCPenney: 13 open roles
5. See's Candies, Inc.: 13 open roles
6. The TJX Companies, Inc.: 12 open roles
7. EssilorLuxottica: 10 open roles
8. Tailored Brands: 9 open roles
9. AutoZone, Inc.: 8 open roles
10. JCPenney: 8 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Diego: 340
• Chula Vista: 47
• National City: 36
• El Cajon: 31
• Encinitas: 29
• Santee: 10
• La Mesa: 6
• Alpine: 5

Work arrangement

on-site 521 (99%), hybrid 3 (1%)

Where the demand is

Opportunity is spread across a long tail, not locked up by one dominant chain. The local sample shows more than 900 postings across more than 300 companies over the last 90 days, and hiring is described as fragmented across employers. The most consistently active named employers were Panda Express, Panda Restaurant Group, and SKECHERS USA, Inc. Within the sample, most demand sat in core retail, with retail accounting for about 70% of postings, retail apparel and fashion about 10%, and restaurants about 5%. The catch is that most of the market is still basic store work. About 70% of postings were entry level, about 20% were mid level, and about 10% were lead+; about 95% or more were on-site, less than 5% were hybrid, and about 0% were remote. Recent store openings and planned launches around grocery, discount, mall apparel, and luxury retail suggest near-term opportunity pockets, but they mostly feed in-person floor, cashier, stock, and shift-lead work rather than remote corporate roles.

• Frontline associate, cashier, and stock roles (high): This is the biggest opportunity pool, supported by retail salespersons being the most-advertised local occupation in March and May 2026 and by the entry-heavy local seniority mix.
• Grocery and food-retail operations (high): Sprouts and Whole Foods added fresh physical-store capacity locally, and the most common certification signal in the local sample was Serve Safe, which fits food-adjacent retail and counter work.
• Apparel, footwear, and mall-based specialty retail (moderate): SKECHERS was among the most active local employers, and J.Crew, Lids, and Tom Ford all signaled expansion or opening activity in the metro.
• Supervisor and key-holder paths (moderate): These jobs pay better than typical associate roles, but they are a smaller slice of the market because only about 10% of postings are lead+ positions.

Where to focus: Focus first on on-site grocery, footwear/apparel, and supervisor-track openings where inventory management, merchandising, and customer service are explicit requirements.

Roles worth searching next

• Inventory clerk or warehouse associate: Local retail hiring heavily values inventory management, which transfers well to stock-control and logistics work.
• Front desk or guest services associate: The same customer service and cash-handling strengths that matter in retail also matter in guest-facing hospitality roles.
• Bank teller or universal banker: Retail experience transfers through face-to-face service, product explanation, and transaction accuracy.
• Food-service counter lead or café supervisor: Restaurant-adjacent employers are active in the local retail sample, and Serve Safe is the top certification signal.

What postings ask for

• High school diploma or equivalent (table_stakes | immediate): Among postings that stated an education requirement, the most common asks were high school diploma or equivalent at about 45% and high school diploma at about 35%. Who: Entry-level applicants and career switchers who need to clear minimum screens.
• Inventory management (table_stakes | immediate): It was the most-requested hard skill in the local posting sample, showing up in about 30% of retail postings. Who: Entry-level applicants, switchers, and anyone targeting stock-heavy, grocery, or high-volume store roles.
• Customer service (table_stakes | immediate): Customer service appeared in about 25% of local retail postings, which makes it a core screening factor rather than a nice-to-have. Who: Everyone, especially applicants coming from hospitality, food service, or other public-facing work.
• Merchandising and visual merchandising (differentiator | near-term): Merchandising showed up in about 20% of postings and visual merchandising in about 15%, making this a strong step-up skill for apparel, home, and specialty stores. Who: Applicants aiming above cashier work, especially those targeting apparel, footwear, or store-lead paths.
• Cash handling (table_stakes | immediate): Cash handling was requested in about 20% of local retail postings, so it still matters even with more self-checkout and card payments. Who: Entry-level applicants and career switchers who need to prove transaction accuracy and trustworthiness.
• Serve Safe (differentiator | near-term): Serve Safe was the most commonly required certification in the local sample at about 10%, which makes it useful for grocery, café, counter, and restaurant-adjacent retail roles. Who: Applicants targeting food-retail, grocery prepared foods, or counter-service employers.

Questions about this market

What do Retail roles pay in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA?

Observed local government pay is much lower than many posted-salary ranges suggest. BLS puts San Diego retail salespersons at a $37,810 median, with $36,270 at the 25th percentile and $45,020 at the 75th percentile in 2025; first-line retail supervisors are materially higher at a $56,300 median. By contrast, the Callings.ai job database shows posted annual ranges centered on about $68k to $90k and hourly postings centered on about $18 to $20 / hour, which likely reflects a mix of management, specialty, and hourly roles rather than one typical wage. For most applicants, this is a modest-pay market relative to San Diego living costs. Mean pay across all metro occupations was $38.01 per hour in May 2025, while the broad sales-and-related group averaged $28.11 per hour. San Diego home prices were still up +1.2% year over year in July 2026, which raises the bar for anyone trying to live on entry retail pay alone.

Where is demand for Retail roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA concentrated?

Opportunity is spread across a long tail, not locked up by one dominant chain. The local sample shows more than 900 postings across more than 300 companies over the last 90 days, and hiring is described as fragmented across employers. The most consistently active named employers were Panda Express, Panda Restaurant Group, and SKECHERS USA, Inc. Within the sample, most demand sat in core retail, with retail accounting for about 70% of postings, retail apparel and fashion about 10%, and restaurants about 5%. The catch is that most of the market is still basic store work. About 70% of postings were entry level, about 20% were mid level, and about 10% were lead+; about 95% or more were on-site, less than 5% were hybrid, and about 0% were remote. Recent store openings and planned launches around grocery, discount, mall apparel, and luxury retail suggest near-term opportunity pockets, but they mostly feed in-person floor, cashier, stock, and shift-lead work rather than remote corporate roles.

Which employers are hiring the most Retail talent in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Panda Express (50 postings), Panda Restaurant Group (40 postings), SKECHERS USA, Inc. (20 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Retail roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 0% are remote and 5% hybrid, with 95% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse California openings by job title

• Software Engineer: 1,164 open roles statewide
• General Manager: 450 open roles statewide
• Product Manager: 419 open roles statewide
• Project Manager: 396 open roles statewide
• Program Manager: 333 open roles statewide
• Technical Program Manager: 313 open roles statewide
• Senior Software Engineer: 280 open roles statewide
• Staff Software Engineer: 230 open roles statewide
• Engineering Manager: 178 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 143 open roles statewide
• Senior Product Manager: 122 open roles statewide
• Associate Director: 107 open roles statewide

Explore related openings

Retail jobs in other metros

• Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
• Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
• Kansas City, MO-KS
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
• Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

Other roles in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA

• Personal Care & Fitness
• Operations, Supply Chain & Logistics
• Engineering & Scientific
• Healthcare Practitioners
• Software, IT & Cybersecurity
• Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations
• Legal, Compliance & Risk
• Finance & Accounting

Browse all job openings | Browse jobs by title and state | Browse all job market reports